Patrick Mahomes shared a straightforward message with wide receiver Kadarius Toney as the Kansas City Chiefs returned to practice after their loss to the Buffalo Bills.
“Just be you,” Mahomes told Toney, whose offside penalty late in the game cost the Chiefs a go-ahead 49-yard touchdown.
“That’s all you can do in life or in this league. You’re going to make mistakes. Stuff’s going to happen in your life. How do you accept that adversity and get past it and do it the right way?
“You make one mistake, that’s not going to define you. It’s going to be how you respond to that mistake.”
Coach Andy Reid affirmed earlier in the week that Toney would remain in the lineup. The mistake against the Bills was not the first costly error Toney made this season.
He deflected an easily catchable ball to a defender who returned it for a touchdown in a one-point loss to the Detroit Lions in Week 1.
The Chiefs’ wide receivers, aside from rookie Rashee Rice, have struggled much of the season. They lead the NFL with 29 dropped passes.
Despite this, Mahomes emphasized that he hasn’t lost trust in any of them, even as the Chiefs have lost four of their last six games, bringing their record to 8-5, one game ahead of the Denver Broncos in the AFC West.
“All the receivers know I believe in them,” Mahomes said. “That’s just kind of how I roll. If you’re in this locker room and I see how hard you work, I’m going to trust in you in big moments and I’m going to give you chances to go out there and make plays.
Kadarius Toney (Credits: NFL)
From everything I know, their mindset seems like it’s in a good spot and they just want to go out there and continue to get better and better.
I can see that by how hard they’re working out here. And I feel like if we can just continue to push through the grind, we’ll end up on the other side of it as the season goes on.”
Mahomes mentioned he spoke with Bills quarterback Josh Allen since Sunday when a TV camera captured their exchange after the game, during which Mahomes commented on the officiating, “Wildest f—ing call I’ve ever seen. Offensive offsides on that play, man. F—ing terrible.”
On Wednesday, Mahomes said, “We’re good,” but did not elaborate further on the conversation.
Allen confirmed that Mahomes had reached out to him.
“Yeah, he reached out to me. I was like, it’s football, it’s a game of emotion. I know he didn’t mean anything by it. I know the cameras kinda caught the last few seconds of what we were talking about. He’s an ultimate competitor. He wants to win. That’s why he is who he is,” Allen said.
Tight end Travis Kelce also defended the Chiefs’ receivers on his weekly “New Heights” podcast, which he hosts with his brother, Philadelphia Eagles center Jason Kelce.
“There’s a lot of media pointing fingers at the skill players on our team, I say f— that,” Kelce said. “Excuse my language, we usually cuss in lighthearted ways, but you guys had to feel that, whoever is talking s— on our skill players and our offense.
“This is a group effort and when you turn the film on, what’s real is that we’ve got guys that can play this game and we’ve got guys that we can have success with and win championships with. I know it, I’ve been on championship-winning teams.
When you watch the film, penalties, turnovers and critical moments, it’s everybody, it’s not just one guy. Everybody is getting a piece of the pie.”
